The Obvious and Subtle
Silence. Everypony looked at Twilight with unreadable expressions for almost a minute before a small, almost amused, smile appeared on Applejack’s face. “Uh, Twi… we already knew that.”
Twilight blinked and looked at Applejack like she had just grown a second set of forelegs. “Huh?” was all she was able to say with a flummoxed tilt to her eyebrows.
“Are you saying you didn’t?” Rarity asked pointedly, her brow furrowing in disbelief. “Have you not been paying attention?”
“I… what are you talking about?! Pay attention to what? What am I missing here?!” Twilight spluttered out, holding a hoof up to her chest in exasperation.
Fluttershy shrunk back from the volume of Twilight’s voice. “Well, uh, we didn’t know, exactly, but, um, we… suspected that Rainbow felt, uh, like that, about you,” she offered with an anxious grin.
“I mean, duh!” Pinkie added with a deadpan before her eyes lit up. “All the snuggling you two do? The fact Rainbow has never once tried to move out of the Golden Oaks? The playful banter and teasing? What about the fact that you two shared a bed and, according to Fluttershy over here,” Pinkie ruffled the aforementioned mare’s mane with a hoof, earning a dirty scowl from her. “You two looked reeeaaal happy about it.”
Fluttershy blushed slightly but nodded all the same. “Um… yes. I didn’t phrase it like that but, uh, yes. I’m sorry?” she shrugged her shoulders and took a step back.
Twilight looked at them all and then held a hoof up to her forehead to try and help reign in her now very flustered mind. “Okay, okay… so… everypony here knew or at least strongly suspected that Rainbow had feelings for me… except me.”
“Looks like it. If ah’m bein’ honest, we all thought it was a mutual thing,” Applejack added with a small smile before her face morphed into a more serious look. “Now, that’s all well and good, Twi… but Ah’m guessin’ yer chat didn’t go so well for ya to come stumblin’ back as pale and shooken up as you were…”
“I have to agree with Applejack,” Rarity sighed, her own mood falling along with everypony else’s. “For somepony who just realized that somepony loves her, you were awful… distraught. I would have been hopping and skipping down the corridor singing happily.”
Twilight gulped, her ears going flat. She had been about to go into how Rainbow Dash had asked her to leave with that horribly guilty look in her eyes. She had locked up when she told the others about Rainbow’s apparent feelings. “Well, uh… she… asked me to go,” she finally managed to force out, wincing as she did so.
“WHAT?!” Rarity shrieked, grabbing Twilight by the shoulders and shaking her harshly. “AND YOU DID?!”
Twilight tried to free herself from Rarity’s hold, but she was having no luck. “Ack! Rarity, put me down!” she snapped between startled wails, although the pearly unicorn ignored her demands.
“This won’t do!” Rarity seethed while putting Twilight’s head in a lock and dragging her back towards the door. “You simply have to go back and-”
“RARITY!” Twilight shouted before managing to free herself with a strong tug. She backpedaled away from Rarity and leveled an irritated glare at her. “For one thing, she’s asleep! Rainbow Dash needs her rest! And secondly…” Twilight clenched her teeth before taking a long, deep breath to calm herself. “...She doesn’t want to see me right now, and… I… I don’t know if I feel the same way about her.”
Everypony went quiet, with Applejack and Fluttershy each shooting Rarity their own looks of disapproval. The mare in question blushed slightly and lowered her head. “R-right… I’m sorry, darling, I just… I assumed…”
The silence began to fall over the room again. It was Pinkie who, thankfully, broke said silence by clearing her throat. “Speaking of sleep, we should head on over to the local inn. They’ve got nice comfy beds and some kind of cider made from Lunaberries.” she put forth with a hopeful grin.
“Lunaberries?” Applejack asked with a tilt of her head. “Can’t say ah’ve ever heard of those.”
“Lunaberries are a type of berry that only grow under the moonlight. Hollow Shades is one of the only places in all of Equestria where they can actually be harvested,” Twilight explained with that scholarly tint in her eyes again.
“I think the inn sounds divine. Shall we?” Rarity acknowledged her approval with a nod of her head towards the door.
“Yeah… probably a good idea. We can run my idea for moving Rainbow to Ponyville by the doctor in the morning,” Twilight nodded, beginning to realize just how tired she had gotten.
“Woohoo! Let’s go drink some drinks!” Pinkie proclaimed, trying her best to raise everypony’s spirits with some of her usual energy. The group began to talk amongst themselves while trotting out, though Twilight was the last to exit. She paused in the threshold of the door and, with a look of confusion and regret, glanced at the door that led deeper into the clinic.
“...I’m so sorry, Rainbow,” she whispered to herself before stepping out of the room and letting the door swing shut behind her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t know.”
“It’s still not enough…” Queen Chrysalis fumed under her breath while glaring impatiently into a green pod made of solidified Changeling mucus that was full-to-bursting with pink magical energy. “It’s close, but not enough…”
“With all due respect, my queen,” Pharynx began from a little ways back. “You don’t need to be her equal in terms of power. With as many of the royal guards replaced as there are, there is no way she’d be able to tell friend from foe. She’d be confused and vulnerable to attack.”
Chrysalis shot him a narrow-eyed look, turning slightly. Pharynx quickly bowed low under her forceful gaze, mentally scolding himself for speaking out of line. Still, Chrysalis gave a thoughtful hum. “...You are not wrong about the number of guards you have replaced and the ability we will have to subdue her underlings rather quickly… but this is the mare wholly responsible for raising and lowering the sun! A task that, if our research is anything to go off of, was only capable of being done by a select few unicorns who had to pool their power together to maintain the cycle before she came along. For one mare to be capable of maintaining such a cycle on her own for over a thousand years on its own is worthy of demanding every precaution, every failsafe.
“Further is her life-span. Princess Celestia has existed for well over a thousand years and, for much of that time, has been the one and only ruling monarch of Equestria. For any creature, pony or not, to hold such a long-lived reign is also worth every precaution and failsafe. Our solar princess here has both of these qualities under her wings, which means there can be no expense in our preparations!” Chrysalis finished her explanation before looking back into the pod and humming thoughtfully.
Pharynx slowly lifted his head, tentatively examining his queen’s posture. “I see your point, your majesty… forgive me. We’re just so hungry, here… I got impatient.”
Chrysalis looked back at him with an almost sympathetic smile. Almost. “I understand your hunger, Pharynx. So far away from the hive for so long… you have all done exceptionally well to contain yourselves. Although,” her eyes narrowed somewhat. “I suppose there is one exception to that rule, isn’t there?”
Pharynx swallowed heavily and lowered his eyes back to the stone floor of the cavern. “You are referring to Thorax, my queen?” he asked uneasily.
Chrysalis chuckled in bitter amusement while casually sauntering away from the pod and past Pharynx. “That little brother of yours is quite the conundrum, Pharynx. A drone who hatched with the strongest case of a pacifism defect I have ever seen in my life, yet one who is not only able to fabricate his own disguises out of nothing but perfectly mimic the creatures he is to replace… Were his potential not so vast, he would have been drained and thrown into the sands a long time ago.”
“He is making progress, your majesty,” Pharynx tried hopefully, doing his best to quell the rising unease he was feeling and the poorly timed shivers. “He recently was able to replace a pony without arousing any suspicion and is currently posing as him right now. The pony he replaced also happens to have a very loving little sister he lives with, which means Thorax is bringing in a not insubstantial amount of food.”
“So I have heard… maybe holding him in the hive for so long was a mistake,” Chrysalis mused, walking in slow, threatening circles around Pharynx. “Being out in the field might have forced him to quell that insufferable passiveness he displayed so frequently when he grew.”
Pharynx opted to not say anything as his queen stopped moving, standing directly in front of him. He kept his eyes glued to the cave floor.
“But infiltration and replacing a pony is one thing; if we are to truly get a worthwhile harvest from these creatures, we will have to subdue the lot of them. I do hope your younger brood-mate is up to the challenge of a battle, my ever-loyal Pharynx,” Chrysalis’ words took on an almost mocking edge. “I would hate for such potential to be wasted… do keep him in line, won’t you?” she lightly touched one of her hooves to the top of Pharynx’s head, making his entire body go rigid on reflex.
“O-of course, your majesty. Thorax is making good progress, as I said. With what’s coming I have no doubts that he will adapt to reality very quickly.” he managed to keep his voice steady, save for a small break of unease at the beginning of his first sentence.
“Good. Because if he falls short, it will be your responsibility to dispose of him,” Chrysalis said with a small snarl in the back of her throat. Her hoof ground a little into the back of Pharynx’s head, pinning him down.
“My queen?” he asked with a slight gasp of discomfort, though he did not dare budge an inch.
“If Thorax turns out to be a failure, I need to make sure that you don’t share his defect,” Chrysalis said almost as if she were bored, leaning down so her words went directly into Pharynx’s ear. “The rest of your brood mates have proven their unflinching loyalty to their rightful queen, and you have proven a similar loyalty. Although, I can’t help but remember a time when you were still but a tiny nymph, able to fit in the holes of my hooves, that you went out of your way to protect him… when he was nothing more than a sniveling, pathetic and cowering whelp who would rather play with dolls made of sticks and stones then stand tall with the rest of the hive.”
“H-he is my brother,” Pharynx began with a tremor clearly evident in his voice now. “A-and I could s-see his potential back then just as much as now! I saved him only when he needed the help!”
Chrysalis hummed in thought before slowly withdrawing from Pharynx. “I do recall that you were harsh on him even as you helped him…” a sadistic cackle sound emitted from deep in her throat. “And he has mastered his disguises very well since then. I do hope you understand my desire to be… cautious, however,” her eyes shimmered slightly brighter in the darkness. “After all… such protective instincts are not… common.” she flashed Pharynx a toothy grin before turning and trotting away.
Pharynx wisely did not rise from his bow until long after Chrysalis was gone.
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this has been bugging me for a while in the icon twilight looks like shes tripping something fierce with that mouth of hers
8800736
I didn't draw it, so...
8800737
i was just pointing it out
Well, of course she left, Rarity. She's respecting Rainbow's wishes. Is she not supposed to do that?
Also can't say I'm surprised to see that Pharynx has a much better grasp of strategy than Chrysalis seems to. After all, he doesn't feel any need whatsoever to seem impressive; he allows his successes to do that for him.
8800742
Fair enough.
image.ibb.co/foT96b/MAWP.png
Aww snap! The changelings are moving and the mane 6 won’t be there for it. Yes!
8800841
No not a police state. Even the US government keeps an eye for potential threats.
A Starlight has been a potential threat, she messed with time and caused the death of Rainbow's parents. What's to stop this version from doing the same thing with worse results. IF in the end Starlight doesn't do the same things it can end. they have a rough idea when Starlight did this crap. Starlight in this idea won't be harmed and allowed to live her life just with and agent nearby watching her jsut incase she follows the same path.
8800754
Hell Chryssy can't even do Cadance right. She is an idiot
8800754
I was trying to make Chrysalis look more strategically sound by pointing out that Celestia is not somepony to be taken lightly and that she won't act against her until she is positive that she can come out on top: her agents may confuse Celestia, yes, but Chrysalis was making the point that it is not worth skimping out on having an approximate amount of power.
After all, when titans battle, who really cares about the flies?
Ouch, I really hope this works out between twi and dash.
And now I'm imagining Twi going to Cadance for advice about this whole mess, only for Chrysalis to give complete nonsense back.
8801020
Well, you'd ostensibly care about the flies an awful lot when strategic use of them can drastically shift the course of a fight, which is half the point that Pharynx is really driving at (to my eyes, at least). The other half plays off the first; they have a great deal of plants among the guard, which could allow them to quickly shift the balance of the fight by confusing Celestia, striking when she isn't looking and overwhelming her when the risk of friendly fire will dissuade her from bringing her full power to bear, so putting in the extra effort to get Chrysalis to an totally level playing field is not worth it when that time could be more productively spent elsewhere.
Yes, the Chrysalis we see here is clearly not the sort to go rushing off half-cocked and winning just on dumb luck, but she's still an arrogant showboat who insists on personally directing all their operations herself: She doesn't listen to Pharynx even though she knows he has a great deal of experience and has been appraised of the situation in Canterlot and might even be able to offer insight, because any ideas he might offer would not have come from her and therefore will obviously be inferior, so the role she has actually given him is repeating the Captain's questions to the ship computer, and then repeating the answers back to the Captain even though everyone in the room literally just heard the answer.
8801062
Touche.
8801062
You're forgetting one thing: Chrysalis's ego/power hunger. She wants to be on the same level as Celestia, magically the strongest 'mortal' in existence right now. She has seen the power Celestia wields and isn't going to be satisfied with just killing that power, she wants it for herself.
There aren't no visions for the Wedding event? I have a feeling it won't be Twilight who will be sent to the crystal cave this time round.
8801381
I think that’s because they won’t attack during the wedding; the excursion to Manehattan made Chrysalis decide to move their time table up.
8801554
By a little under a year, yeah.
Or he grows so guilty and traumatised he goes whistleblower.
I can actually sympathize with Twilight in this. Although for me it was the other way around. Rather than being unaware of how someone felt towards me (which for all I know could also be true), I was unaware of how I felt for someone else...which is also where Twilight is. But my point is that I have a friend that I was friends with since we were really little. And we have always been friends as we grew up. It never occurred to me that my feelings towards her could have been more than just friendship because we were such good friends. At one point, we were even "friends with benefits". And if you want to get technical, Friendship is just a less "extreme" stage of love. Because both friendship and love are formed through a sensation of familiarity. So if you were friends with someone form the majority of your life, you may not realize that the feelings could progress into something stronger. There were two moments when I realized that my feelings for her were more than just friendship. And both were long after it was too late. The first was when I was living in California and went back to New York to visit my family. I saw a picture of me and her at the prom and thought how beautiful she looked. I want to let you know that usually, I'm capable of knowing someone is considered beautiful without actually thinking of them as beautiful myself. So the fact that she stuck out to me like that was, for lack of a better term, uncharacteristic of me. The second time was when I learned she was pregnant. I basically felt like I was hit by a truck. That news hurt me. I was jealous. And it didn't help that I didn't hear it from her, but from my mom. And it really hurt that I didn't know she was pregnant until about halfway through the pregnancy, where my mom apparently knew much sooner. The reason it took my mom so long to tell me is because my mom assumed that she had already told me about it. Maybe she just didn't have my phone number. But I knew I've given it to her before. And as a side note, I've never actually been jealous before that. So I had to determine for myself that what I was feeling was Jealousy.
And also like Twilight, I have a bit of social awkwardness, being on the autistic spectrum. So I know what it's like to not always be able to pick up on things like that. Like me, I think Twilight could be diagnosed as high functioning autistic (which can also explain why I personally never viewed anyone as "beautiful" to me).
So in short, I know Twilight does love Rainbow Dash (not because I know the ship is intentional, but because I see it for myself from experience). She just doesn't realize it because she's such good friends with Rainbow Dash.
...I suddenly feel lonely.
8805613
I can feel you, there. I, too, have a form of high-functioning autism. I also suffered from clinical depression for, like, literal years. Without stopping. Rough times. But it does give me a lot of experience with how a grieving and depressed mind works: Something that is more or less impossible to fully wrap your head around if you haven't been there and experienced it for yourself, which I guess is part of why most frequently used genre tag in my stories is 'sad.' If nothing else to give some insight.
Hit the proverbial nail on the head, my man.
8805630
I've never experienced depression. But there was a time in my life (as short as it was) that I experienced a dark place in my mind that I never knew existed prior. And even though it was just a one time thing that happened nearly 15 years ago, it's an experience that has stuck with me. It's probably the reason why I can't seem to create characters without giving them a dark background.
Not all of these characters I have created yet. But my list of characters includes a "nightmare pony" (similar to the Nightmare Moon concept), an orphan, a blind pony, a concept for a deaf pony. A concept for Pound Cake where can't feel pain, and essentially can't feel if he's injured, a concept for Luna where the one in the show is a fake created by dark magic (the Tantibus) and the real Luna is dead (the "nightmare pony" from before being the original Luna's twin brother). The list goes on with either them having a dark background, or something dark happens to them. I don't know if I have an addiction to drama, or if I generally have a desire to create characters that I want to protect, since may of my ideas are still children. With manh of my characters, I give them some form of compensation. The blind pony (which in my headcanon is Fluttershy's daughter) has a form of echolocation, the deaf pony (who's a crystal pony) can feel the vibrations of sound through her crystal form, etc.
And on that note, when i make villains, I take the most common tropes about villains that lead their their downfall and remove them, making them as dangerous as I can.
8807599
You're starting to sound like a broken record there, bud.
8807641
Oops, sorry, lol!
Anyways, finally caught up and looking forward to seeing what happens next! Tracking, faving and following!
I really hope that this would happen but it did woohoo Twidash
I knew it
Chrysalis is mean.
8828161
media.tenor.com/images/8431be8b5a5edf329af0c1128e4097c7/tenor.gif
A fic that might actually see Thorax get squished. Yay!
8801062
In other words, Chryssie is suffering from "Not Invented Here Syndrome".
.... It never occurred to me that the season 6 finale had a plot hole like that until I read this fic. Who was raising and lowering the sun and moon while the princesses were captured?
Madam, you are also that old, and are an eldritch monstrosity born from a cursed tree and a pile of bones. Have some confidence in yourself.